January 5 2021

I peeled my eyes slowly open. The clock lit the darkness, 6:10 it read. It was time to move, time to go to the mountain and try my injured knee on the slopes. I rolled over and crawled out of bed. There aren’t many things that get me out of bed at six in the morning. Skiing is one of them.

I fired up my truck and cruised towards the morning sunrise. The icy roads were slick with an early morning glaze. I cranked up my heart rate when I slid toward the red light at the intersection at Highway 97. I picked up my ski buddy Karen and we connected in the sight of the red sky glowing over Okanagan Lake.

By 8:20 in the morning, we unloaded ourselves and her gear at the condo. I tested out my knee as I dropped down from the door of my truck. There were signs of some fresh snow and the sky was clear, it looked like a great day.

I stretched my leg and remembered the advice of the physiotherapist from the evening before. He tested my knee and reiterated my good fortune that I only bruised my leg. The brace I wore left a deep bruise on my leg as evidence of how well it worked. My knee escaped damage and he was very pleased with my recovery. Twenty days ago I fell about ten or fifteen feet onto a rock and my season came to a sudden halt. Today I was going to try and see how well I had recovered from my sudden stop.

I felt good and we rushed putting our gear on and headed for the Ridge Rocket Chair. Sunshine reflected off the fresh white snow that blanketed the slopes and filled our senses. I breathed in the fresh air and felt a sense of excitement and anticipation. We rode the quad chair into the sky, below us there were only a couple of tracks carved into the groomed snow.

It has been almost three weeks since I basked in the glory of an early morning ski.

We dismounted the lift and slowly cruised across the freshly groomed terrain. I felt anticipation and trepidation as I tested my knee. It felt awesome and I counted my blessings as I traversed the fresh corduroy slopes. Karen grinned at me behind her mask and we celebrated the first run in the new year when we slid into the line back at the bottom of the Ridge.

My friend Byron stood in the line for the chair, we saw each other and waved. I sensed the shocked excitement when he saw me sliding up to the turnstyle. I’m a quick healer, I yelled to him, my voice muffled by the mask. We spent the next couple of hours doing laps on the freshly groomed terrain. My confidence built with every turn. By the end of the day, I ventured into some steeper terrain and found some fresh powder turns. I felt better than my wildest expectations.

I was back on top of the world, it only cost me twenty days of rest. I had to elevate my knee and listen to the health experts. I came back as strong as ever.

I hope our society can recover quickly from its battle with our viral foe. If we listen to the health experts, if we rest and recover, we should come back from this temporary setback as strong as ever. If we don’t, it may be a long time before our recovery is complete.